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Marvel Champions: Wasp Hero Pack
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Description
Marvel Champions:
Marvel Champions is a Living Card Game (LCG) from Fantasy Flight. That means that it will continue to grow and expand roughly monthly with new content. The good news is that this content is not random booster packs but set cards, like hero expansion decks, new schemes and villains.
The game play is cooperative and based around hand management. Each hero has some cards that are specific to them and then you either use a prebuilt deck, or take cards from two other decks, a general deck with generic cards and one of four attribute decks. These are leadership, justice, aggression and protection. Helpfully the deck names are an accurate description of what the cards will do! Cards are super important as every card you play must be paid for by other cards.
It is fun to fit characters with their best themed deck, Captain America with a leadership build for example, but also fun to mix it up a little too, especially given the challenge of the villains. Villains come into play with their own decks, with a main scheme you must stop, minions, side schemes and more. Interestingly each hero can be in their heroic form or their alter ego and the villain reacts differently to each. Villains will directly attack heroes, but if the hero is in their alter ego form then the villain doesn’t know who they are and will therefore continue with their evil scheme.
The game is thematic and fun to play providing a good challenge for players and meaningful team-ups.
More than Ant-Man with wings the Wasp is the second hero to use size changing mechanics. The Wasp is a planner who likes to set up her attacks for precision strikes. This Hero Pack comes with a 40 card deck built with the Aggression aspect.
Player Count: 1-4
Time: 45-90 Minutes
Age: 14+
Marvel Champions is a one to four-player superhero game where players take on the role of one of five Marvel heroes to battle it out against one of three villains. Play as Captain Marvel, Spiderman, She Hulk, Black Panther or Iron Man and face off against Rhino, Klaw or Ultron. Each Hero is represented by a deck of cards made up of basic cards, hero specific cards and aspect cards. These are one of leadership, justice, aggression and protection. Each Villain is also represented by a deck of cards comprising villain specific cards. Basic villain cards and a modular encounter set.
During a players turn they will play cards. (paying for the cost by discarding other cards from their hand). Then, activate cards and perform a number of actions all in an attempt to defeat the “big bad” and to thwart his schemes. Players can also switch from alter ego to hero form once per turn. And activate their characters special ability as well the basic recovery, attack or defend actions. Once a player has performed all of their actions it passes to the next player. They repeat the process until all players have performed their actions.
Time to Defend
Next is the villain phase. During the villain phase threat is added to the main scheme based on player count. Then the villain will either attack (if you are in hero form) or scheme (if you are in alter ego form). When they attack or scheme, a boost card is revealed. This is from the encounter deck and added to the Villian’s base attack/scheme value. Each player (in turn order) is then dealt an encounter card. Any minions in play will also attack or scheme.
Players will need to manage the number of threat tokens that are placed on a scheme as if a certain quantity is reached the scheme advances to the next stage and eventually the Villain will win by completing his scheme. In addition to the threat/schemes, players will also have to take out minions and deal damage to the Villain to reduce his health to zero and win the game. Marvel Champions is a living card game (LCG) and as such the publisher Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) are supporting the game with new Hero & Villain packs to further expand the game, the combinations and replayability. Check out a full review & final thoughts of the core game here.
Sting Like a…..Wasp
With the ability to grow to giant size or shrink down to tiny form, Wasp is ready for anything. Wasp is not the first hero to have two hero forms in addition to their alter-ego form. Ant Man, which I recently reviewed here, also has this new mechanism and uses a “three sided” card. Wasp also has some interesting abilities and event cards which make her hit strong. Paired with the aggression aspect and she can deal out some impressive damage. There are also some interesting cards that bounce off Ant Mans deck/cards and it really feels that these two heroes combo well off each other, just like they do in the cinematic universe.
The Wasp Hero pack comes with a 40 card pre-built aggression deck with additional cards for other aspects (and basic cards) for further deckbuilding options.
Jumping on the back of the Ant Man feature with the folding card/three forms, Wasp brings her own take on this mechanism. Not just a re-theme of the Ant Man deck, Wasp feels like a Hero in her own right. One of the very interesting things, especially in Giant form, is that Wasp can divide up her basic attack and thwart actions amongst different enemies and schemes. This is something that has not really been seen before.
The Wasp Hero Pack also has some interesting upgrade cards that play into her tiny/giant abilities and trigger different kickbacks depending on what form she is in. I really like how these cards play into the double hero forms. It gives more tactical choices for a player to make which adds more interesting gameplay and gameplay moments.
The Wasp hero pack also comes with some new Allies for the Wasp deck, basic and aggression aspects. One of these allies is Ant Man which coupled with the Team Up card adds some fun elements when playing with this hero. In addition, the Ant Man ally has a kickback which is dependant on which form Wasp is in. Once again, enforcing the tiny/giant hero from play space.
Some of Wasp’s events are also amazingly fun. Take Wasp Sting, which again will trigger different abilities dependant on Wasp’s form. It deals four or five damage to either multiple enemies or to a single enemy. Rapid Growth can also make for some interesting choices and gameplay allowing you to switch to giant form from tiny form when using basic power and add +2 to that power.
Pinpoint Strike is also a very powerful card dealing seven damage to an enemy. Plus one additional damage if you are in tiny form and gaining overkill.
Final Thoughts
The Wasp Hero Pack is a very cool hero to play with. There are some interesting combos to be found within the pre-constructed deck or your own custom builds. I think she really shines when played with Ant Man. Not only is it thematic from an MCU point of view, but the two heroes flipping back and forth make for some fantastic moments and card play. Once again, FFG has come out with an interesting deck. Although the main appeal of the giant/tiny hero form was done with Ant Man, it has interesting mechanisms. I think they have done something different with this set.
Marvel Champions is a 1-4 player superhero game. Each player takes on the role of a Marvel hero to battle it out against one of three villains. Play as Captain Marvel, Spiderman, She-Hulk, Black Panther, or Iron Man and face off against Rhino, Klaw, or Ultron. Each Hero is represented by a deck, consisting of basic cards, Hero-specific cards, and aspect cards. Each Villain is represented by a deck of cards, comprising villain-specific cards, basic villain cards, and a modular encounter set.
Marvel Champions is a Living Card Game (LCG). As such, the publisher, Fantasy Flight Games, is expanding the game with new Hero & Villain packs all the time. If you’re inclined, check out a full review & final thoughts of the core game here.
Set-Up
To set up the game, each player will select a Hero to play and place their identity card, alter-ego side up in front of them. The identity card will number the hit points they have and these are entered into the hit point dial. Each Hero will have an obligation card and a set of Nemesis cards which are set aside for the moment. The player then shuffles their player deck which will consist of Hero specific cards, basic cards, and aspect cards. Hero decks come pre-constructed but players are free to build their own decks whilst complying with the deckbuilding rules.
Next, a Villain is selected and is placed on the table along with the Villain’s main scheme and the Villain’s main deck. The Villain’s hit points are entered into the Villain’s hit point dial. The main scheme may have some setup instructions which are followed and resolved at this stage. The relevant encounter cards and modular sets and the Heroes obligation cards are added to the Villains the main deck and shuffled to form the encounter deck.
Each player then draws a starting hand of cards as detailed on their identity card and can discard any number of cards, drawing back up to their hand limit. If a Hero has any setup instructions these are resolved and followed now.
The game is played over a number of rounds, alternating between the player’s turns and then the Villains turn. On a player’s turn they can perform a number of actions:
- change form from alter ego to Hero or Hero to alter ego but only once per round,
- play cards from their hand paying the relevant resource costs
- Use their Heroes basic attack or thwart ability (only in Hero form and exhausting their identity)
- Use an ally they control to attack or thwart (exhausting the ally)
- Activate an action card they control (and exhausting the card if applicable)
- Use their alter-egos recovery ability to gain hit points (only in alter ego form and exhausting their identity)
Once a player has performed all of their actions they pass, the next player performs their actions until all players have passed. At this stage players can discard any remaining cards in their hand (if they want) and draw up to their hand limit (This may change depending on the form they are in) Each player then readies all of their cards (identity, allies, action cards).
Next is the Villain phase. At the start of the Villain phase threat is placed on the main scheme as detailed on the main scheme card. The villain and any minions then activate against each player. If the player is in Hero form the Villain attacks. If the player is in alter ego form the Villain schemes and adds a threat to the main scheme. Each time the Villain activates they draw a card from the encounter deck and add the number of boost icons to his base attack or scheme value. The Villain then deals each player an encounter card face down and in turn order, each player reveals and resolves the encounter card.
The first player token then passes to the next player and the player’s start the round again.
The game continues this way until the Villain has been defeated by reducing his hit points to zero for both stages and the player’s win. Players lose if the Villains scheme threshold reaches its maximum or they all have their hit points reduced to zero.
Strategy
What I love about Marvel Champions is the way the Heroes and Villains play differently. The key to success is figuring out how the Heroes play, their strengths, weaknesses, and how to best utilise them to take down the Villain. Certain Heroes require a certain amount of setup to become strong. He is best left in alter ego mode as he builds up his suit, armour, and weapons. Once he is up and running he can be a formidable character.
Figuring out when to stop building and when to take the fight to the Villain comes with practice and experience but it is worth that time investment. Where it might seem that you are not making progress by hitting the enemy it’s wise to learn the “arc” of the Hero and play into that. Being efficient with your cards and trying to not have any cards left in your hand at the end of the turn is a good idea.
The board state needs to be managed very carefully. Often the best move is not necessarily just smacking the villain in the face. Controlling the minions and the side schemes that can mount up is often a better move. Keeping an eye on the main scheme threshold is also key. Knowing how the Villains play and what’s in the encounter deck can help you decide how best to defeat them. At some point you will have to start dealing damage to the Villain but knowing when to push and when to hold off and control the threat/minions is critical. Like the Heroes, each Villain and modular encounter set has a different feel. Knowing how to handle them is essential. The timing of when to defeat one stage and advance to the next is often a critical step.
Aspects
There are four aspects in the game that all have their unique playstyles.
Aggression, as the name suggests, is all about hitting the enemies hard and fast. Generally, aggression based Heroes are not great at thwarting and removing threat from a scheme. Subsequently, t is often a race against the threat build-up and taking the Villain down
Justice is more focused on removing threat from schemes. Justice based characters are good at managing threat and keeping things under control however they are not typically hard hitters.
Protection is all about defending, preventing damage, and healing. It can react to incoming attacks, prevent that damage and sometimes cause reactive effects based on that.
Leadership is a very versatile deck and can do a lot of things but is mostly about bringing out Allies.Allies can be good for attacking, thwarting and defending and is a good all purpose aspect if used with a large selection of ally cards. Protection is reliant on these allies so Villains that target allies can make this aspect weak.
Deck building is a big part of Marvel Champions. You can customise your Heroes deck around the Villain you’re facing. There are great resources online such as www.marvelcdb.com
Zatu Score
You might like
- The two hero forms
- The synergism with Ant Man
- Additional cards for further deck building
Might not like
- Aggression deck not great for thwarting